Device for driving vertical slat venetian blind



July 15, 1969 ISAMU FUKUOKA 3,455,364

DEVICE FOR DRIVING VERTICAL SLAT VENETIAN BLIND Filed June 13, 1968 FlG.1

FIG.4

- INVENTOR IsAMu FUKUOKA BY WWW ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent O 3,455,364 DEVICE FOR DRIVING VERTICAL SLAT VENETIAN BLIND Isamu Fukuoka, 15, l-chome, Zaimokuza, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa-ken, Tokyo, Japan Filed June 13, 1968, Ser. No. 736,756 Claims priority, application Japan, June 17, 1967,

Int. Cl. E061) 9/38 U.S. Cl. 160-172 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In a vertical slat Venetian blind including a head box, a plurality of carriages slidable along said head box, slats each vertically suspended from each of said carriages, a lead screw mounted in said head box for moving said carriages along the head box to open or close the blind and a slat rotating shaft mounted in said head box for rotating the slats about their vertical axes to adjust the light passing through the blind; a driving device for rotating said lead screw and for rotating said slat rotating shaft, comprising a drive shaft rotatably mounted at one end of said head box in axially aligned relationship with said lead screw, a clutch housing rotatably mounted on said drive shaft and fixedly connected to said lead screw, a clutch disc threadedly engaging on a screw thread formed on said drive shaft in the clutch housing and axially movable but non-rotatable relative to said clutch housing and a friction means for frictionally connecting said drive shaft to said slat rotating shaft.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention relates to a Venetian blind having vertical slats suspended from carriages slidable along a head box wherein the blind slats can be opened or closed by moving the carriages along said head box and the slats can be rotated about their vertical axes to adjust the light passing therethrough.

Description of the prior art Heretofore. a vertical slat Venetian blind employs a lead screw for moving the carriages along the head box and a slat rotating shaft for rotating the slats about their vertical axes, said lead screw and slat rotating shaft being rotatably mounted in said head box in parallel relationship with each other. The lead screw has a wheel fixed at its one end which is driven by an operating means such as an operating cord. The slat rotating shaft also has a wheel fixed at its one end which is driven by another operating means such as an operating cord. Thus the operation of the slats are controlled by two operating means, one for moving the carriages along the head box and the other for rotating the slats about their axes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a driving device for a vertical slat Venetian blind which requires only one operating means for controlling both the movement of the carriages and the rotation of the slats.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a driving device for vertical slat Venetian blind of the above-mentioned kind, which comprises a drive shaft rotatably mounted at one end of said head box in axially aligned relationship with said lead screw, a clutch housing rotatably mounted on said drive shaft and fixed at its one end to said lead screw, a clutch disc threadice edly engaging with a screw thread formed on said drive shaft in the clutch housing and axially movable but nonrotatable relative thereto said clutch housing, and a friction means for frictionally connecting said drive shaft to said slat rotating shaft.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The drawings illustrate an embodiment of the present invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a vertical slat Venetian blind having a driving device according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a section taken along line IIII in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a section taken along line III-III in FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line IVIV in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, a vertical slat Venetian blind includes a head box 1, carriages 2 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 1) slidable along said head box, vertical slats 3 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 1) each suspended from said carriage, a lead screw 4 rotatably mounted in said head box for moving the carriages along the head box and a slat rotating shaft 5 for rotating the slats about their vertical axes. When the lead screw 4 is rotated, the carriages 2 are moved along the head box 1 to open or close the blind, and when the slat rotating shaft 5 is rotated, the rotation is transmitted through a worm 6 and a worm Wheel 7 to the slats 3, which are rotated about their vertical axes to adjust the light passing therethrough.

A driving device according to the present invention controls the rotation of both the lead screw 4 and the slat rotating shaft 5 by means of a single operating means, such as operating cord 10 which drives a wheel 11. The operating cord 10 is shown as a ball chain in the illustrated embodiment. A drive shaft 12 fixed to the wheel 11 is rotatably mounted in one end of the head box 1 in axially aligned relationship with said lead screw 4 and a clutch housing 13 is rotatably mounted on said drive shaft. The clutch housing 13 is fixed at its reduced end :14 to one end of said lead screw 4 by means of a pin 15 or the like. A clutch disc 16 contained in said clutch housing 13 is formed with radial projections 17 which engage in axial grooves 18 formed in the inner surface of said clutch housing so that the clutch disc is axially movable in said clutch housing but non-rotatable relative thereto. Said clutch disc 16 threadedly engages on a screw thread '19 formed on the drive shaft 12. A toothed wheel 20 is fixed on the drive shaft 12 and a toothed "Wheel 21 meshing with said toothed wheel 20 is mounted on a shaft 23 through friction means 22, such as rubber. Said shaft 23 is fixedly connected to said slat rotating shaft 5. In the drawings, 24 and 25 indicate bearing plates and 26 indicates a stop plate formed at one end of the screw thread 19 on the drive shaft 12.

Now assume that the blind is open position. If the wheel 11 is rotated by the operating cord 10* in the blind closing direction, the rotation of the drive shaft 12 is transmitted through the toothed wheels 20, 21 and the friction means 22 to the shaft 23 to rotate the slat rotating shaft 5, which rotates the slats about their vertical axes. When the slats are rotated until the edges of the slats come into contact with those of the adjoining slats, the slats are stopped and consequently the further rotation of the slat rotating shaft 5 is prevented. As the rotation of the drive shaft 12 is continued the toothed wheel 21 begins to slip on the shaft 23 at the friction C means 22, so that the rotation of the drive shaft 12 is not transmitted to the slat rotating shaft 5.

As the wheel 11 is rotated by the operating cord in the blind closing direction, the clutch disc 16 threadedly engaging with the screw thread 19 is subjected to the rotating force, but the rotation of the clutch disc 16 relative to the clutch housing 13 is prevented by the engagement of the projections 17 with the grooves 18, so that the clutch disc 16 is axially moved along the lead screw to the left, as viewed in FIG. 2. When the clutch disc 16 is moved until it abuts against the stop plate 26, the axial movement of the clutch disc is stopped and the continued rotation of the drive shaft 12 acts to rotate the clutch disc 16 together with the clutch housing 13. The rotation of the clutch housing 13 is transmitted through the pin 15 to the lead screw 4, which is rotated to move the carriages so as to close the blind.

After the blind has been closed, if the wheel 11 is rotated in the opposite direction by the operating cord, then the slat rotating shaft 5 is rotated in the opposite direction through the toothed wheels and 21, the friction means 22 and the shaft 23 and acts to rotate the slats in the opposite direction about their vertical axes so as to adjust the light passing through the blind. While adjusting the light, the rotation of the wheel 11 does not act to rotate the clutch disc 16 but move it on the screw thread 19 in the opposite direction, that is, to the right in FIG. 2 because the rotation of the clutch disc relative to the clutch housing 13 is prevented by the engagement of the radial projections 17 with the grooves 18, so that the rotation of the drive shaft 12 is not transmitted to the clutch housing 13 and, consequently, to the lead screw 4. Thus, the blind slats do not move along the head box while the angle of the slats about their vertical axes is adjusted by the slat rotating shaft 5. If the rotation of the wheel 11 is continued, the slats are rotated until the edges of the slats come into contact with those of the adjoining slats, where the further rotation of the slats is prevented and the toothed wheel 21 begins to slip on the shaft 23. The clutch plate 16 on the screw thread 19 is moved to the right in FIG. 2 until it comes into contact with the inner surface of the clutch housing, and thus the clutch plate 16 stops its axial movement and begins to rotate with the drive shaft, thereby rotating the clutch housing 13-. Consequently the lead screw 4 is rotated to move the carriages toward the blind open position.

It will be understood from the above description that the driving device according to the present invention requires only one driving means in order to control both the blind opening and closing operation and the slat rotating operation, as compared with the conventional vertical slat Venetian blind which employs two driving means to control the blind opening and closing operation and the slat rotating operation, respectively. Accordingly, the device according to the invention is very convenient in practical use.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the scope of the claim. For example, the operating means for rotating the drive shaft may consist of an operating cord instead of a ball chain as shown in the drawing, and if desired the drive shaft may be driven by an operating handle.

I claim:

1. In a vertical slat Venetian blind including a head box, a plurality of carriages slidable along said head box, slats each vertically suspended from each of said carriages, a lead screw mounted in said head box for moving said carriages along the head box and a slat rotating shaft mounted in said head box for rotating the slats about their vertical axes; a driving device for rotating said lead screw and for rotating said slat rotating shaft comprising a drive shaft rotatably mounted in the one end of said head box in axially aligned relationship with said lead screw, a clutch housing rotatably mounted on said drive shaft and fixedly connected to said lead screw, a clutch disc in the clutch housing threadedly engaging on a screw thread formed on said drive shaft and axially movable but non-rotatable relative to the clutch housing and a friction means for frictionally connecting said drive shaft to said slat rotating shaft.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,332,374 3/ 1920 Aylsworth. 1,887,355 11/1932 Kranick 64--3O X 2,032,900 3/ 1936 Alger. 2,360,488 10/1944 Garman 6430 2,849,896 9/1958 Lappin et al. 3,190,346 6/1965 Arena et al. -172 PETER M. CAUN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 160-176 

